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Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World
. Ed(S): Faraone, Christopher A.; McClure, Laura K.
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Description for Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World
Paperback. Explores the implications of sex-for-pay from ancient Mesopotamia to the early Christian period. The essays in this volume reflect the difficulty of answering the question of whether temple prostitution existed in the ancient Near East and Greece, and the implications of literary representations of prostitutes and courtesans. Editor(s): Faraone, Christopher A.; McClure, Laura K. Series: Wisconsin Studies in Classics. Num Pages: 496 pages, 1 b&w photo. BIC Classification: 1QDA; HBG; HBLA; HBTB; JFMX. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 229 x 152 x 20. Weight in Grams: 490.
Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World explores the implications of sex-for-pay across a broad span of time, from ancient Mesopotamia to the early Christian period. In ancient times, although they were socially marginal, prostitutes connected with almost every aspect of daily life. They sat in brothels and walked the streets; they paid taxes and set up dedications in religious sanctuaries; they appeared as characters - sometimes admirable, sometimes despicable - on the comic stage and in the law courts; they lived lavishly, consorting with famous poets and politicians; and they participated in otherwise all-male banquets and drinking parties, where they aroused jealousy among their anxious lovers. The chapters in this volume examine a wide variety of genres and sources, from legal and religious tracts to the genres of lyric poetry, love elegy, and comic drama to the graffiti scrawled on the walls of ancient Pompeii. These essays reflect the variety and vitality of the debates engendered by the last three decades of research by confronting the ambiguous terms for prostitution in ancient languages, the difficulty of distinguishing the prostitute from the woman who is merely promiscuous or adulterous, the question of whether sacred or temple prostitution actually existed in the ancient Near East and Greece, and the political and social implications of literary representations of prostitutes and courtesans.
Product Details
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2006
Publisher
University of Wisconsin Press United States
Number of pages
496
Condition
New
Series
Wisconsin Studies in Classics
Number of Pages
376
Place of Publication
Wisconsin, United States
ISBN
9780299213145
SKU
V9780299213145
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-1
About . Ed(S): Faraone, Christopher A.; McClure, Laura K.
Christopher A. Faraone is professor of classics at the University of Chicago, author of Ancient Greek Love Magic, and coeditor of Magika Hiera: Ancient Greek Magic and Religion. Laura K. McClure is professor of classics at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, author of Courtesans at Table: Gender and Greek Literary Culture in Athenaeus, and editor of Sexuality and Gender in the Ancient World.
Reviews for Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World
Demonstrates, quite splendidly, how the study of prostitution in the ancient world provides crucial insight into the nature of ancient life, its mores, social practices, and political ideologies and discourses. - Ellen Greene, author of The Erotics of Domination ""This volume engages provocatively with previous studies on the topic of prostitution in Greece, Rome, and the Near East. The readable style and lively English translations will make this book accessible not only to students and specialists but also to the broader reading public."" - Judith P. Hallett, coeditor of Roman Sexualities